


The Stuff of Stars

by NeedyUke



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Culture, Culture Shock, Empath, Empathy, Feels, Language Barrier, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, Revised Version, Romance, Science Fiction, Synesthesia, Worth Re-Reading
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-05 13:04:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11578641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeedyUke/pseuds/NeedyUke
Summary: Out of the ashes of disaster, salvation is born. Two kindred hearts join to complete each other against all odds.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have re-written this story. It still follows the original story line, but this time I took my time and went into greater detail. I hope you will enjoy it.

Laurent stretched out on his bed in his living quarters aboard The Starship Initium, reading an old book. The stale scent of the yellowed pages and the marbled texture of the leather cover made him recall a simpler time…a happier time. He had read the book a hundred times before, but he had little else to occupy the long hours of his days. He had only been allowed to bring with him a very limited number of personal belongings. A book. A baseball. A ridiculously ugly sweater his grandmother knitted for him. A few other small things. He cherished each and every one of these treasures. They were all he had left of Earth.

Only 150 human beings from Earth were selected to make the voyage. Out of the billions of people on the planet, only 150 now survive to carry on the existence of humans. None of Laurent’s family or friends made the selection cut. He was surrounded by strangers he was forced to interact with every day, but he felt no bond with them. He felt utterly alone.

Laurent was selected because he was a prodigy in the field of time manipulation in space. Until very recently, space travel for humans was limited to the solar system. The distances to other star systems were just too far to be realistically considered as a destination. Then, a theory was proposed. What if humans were able to manipulate time in order to realistically travel those distances? Through Laurent’s efforts, the voyage to Daltangi 3 would take only two years, even though the planet was 220 light-years from Earth.

He was almost not chosen to go at all, though. Laurent was gay. And even though homosexuality was widely accepted on Earth by the year 2535, the mission planners chose to only send heterosexuals to the new world. Everyone selected was expected to fulfill their duty in reproduction. Repopulation of the human species was a top priority. Laurent was forced to undergo a sex re-education program. He was not sure it really worked, however. He no longer felt an attraction to anyone, male or female. Companionship seemed like a vague and distant concept to him, and sex seemed like simply a means of reproduction. He doubted he was even capable of love anymore.

With a sigh, Laurent turned onto his side and adjusted his pillow under his head. He read the same words on the old and tattered page again and again. He was too distracted by his wondering thoughts, and his focus was lacking. The Initium was due to enter orbit around their new home, Daltangi 3, in three days. Even though he was excited and anxious to arrive, he was mainly distracted by a recurring dream that haunted his sleep.

Almost every night during the past two years aboard The Initium, Laurent had dreamed of a man he did not recognize. He had a gentle face and long, flowing auburn hair tied into a ponytail. His eyes were larger than usual and turquoise blue. He was stunning. His living quarters was littered with sketches and drawings of this unknown man.

Last night, however, his dream was a bit different. This man with the auburn hair whispered his name. “Laurent…” He awoke with the sound of his name still lingering in the air. _Who was this man?_

Setting his book aside, Laurent sketched the man from his dreams once again. This time, his long ponytail was draped gracefully over his shoulder. A small, uncertain smile touched the delicate features of his face. Laurent was surprised to find himself smiling back at his sketch.

He put the drawing on top of his pillow and hopped out of his bed. It was time to begin disengagement of the time manipulation device in preparation for their arrival at Daltangi 3.

~

Beau brushed his long hair out of his face as he sat up in bed. He had scarcely slept at all. He was too excited for the events of the day to come. The Initium was due to make orbit around his planet sometime during the previous night. The survivors of the Earth disaster would be joining his community today, and it was Beau’s job to see to it that all went smoothly.

Beau was a language and culture expert. He was in charge of the team assigned to educate and integrate the humans into their new home. He had been learning Earth languages and customs for the last two years. As he understood it, a vast number of languages were spoken on Earth, but English was chosen to be the official language of The Initium. He practiced all the languages of the people represented aboard the starship, focusing particular attention on English. This was not going to be an easy task. While Daltangi 3 had only one language, it was immensely different from any Earth languages.

The question of culture was a bit more difficult. He learned that Earth cultures differed greatly by region. Even slight gestures and nuances spoke volumes without words. And while something might be perfectly acceptable in one region on Earth, the same thing could be completely offensive in another part of that planet. How complicated this must have made things for humans!

In addition to all this, the travelers posed a unique problem. All of them were devastated, likely to be still in shock even after their two-year voyage. Beau was no scientist, but the circumstances of Earth’s demise had been explained to him.

The history of Earth was filled with violence and hate. Reading through that history, one might think that they would have destroyed themselves through some barbaric act of war resulting in global devastation. But, that was not the case. The humans eventually evolved and out-grew much of these behaviors.

What sealed Earth’s demise was a simple chance of fate. A binary star system containing four planets situated six light-years away from Earth, known as Glasson, set into motion a catastrophe that could not be stopped. One of the stars in this system, Glasson Beta, went supernova and became a neutron star, known as a pulsar, with an extraordinarily strong gravity field. Although they survived the supernova, the orbiting planets were flung into chaos by the dense gravity field, sending the fourth planet hurtling out of the solar system and into the galaxy. The ultimate destination of this rogue planet was Earth. It was on a collision course, and due to the size of the planet, nothing could be done to change its trajectory. Complete and utter inhalation of both Earth and Glasson 4 were imminent.

Beau could not comprehend how it must feel to be a survivor of such a disaster. His life had been full of happiness and his heart full of love. But it was not his job to comprehend such things. His job was to greet the survivors and welcome them to his world. Glancing at the monitor on the wall, he saw it was just about time to get going. He was due to meet them all in the great assembly hall very soon. He quickly got dressed and pulled his hair back into a ponytail before leaving his apartment. He was excited to see what humans were really like.

Beau hesitated at the door. He looked back over his shoulder at the sketches on his desk…sketches of a handsome man with short brown hair and pale blue eyes. He had seen this man in his dreams for the last two years. Why he was thinking of him now, he could not say. He approached his desk and picked up one of the sketches. Running his fingers across the cheek of the man in the sketch, he sighed, gazing longingly at the image. Reluctantly, Beau placed the sketch back on his desk and hurried on his way.


	2. Chapter 2

Watching the growing crowd gather in the great assembly hall, Beau felt his hands trembling. It was very uncharacteristic for him to become nervous or unsure of himself, but English was such a difficult language. He did not want to make any mistakes. He had memorized his speech weeks ago, practicing it many times to be sure there would be no blunders.

Listened closely, Beau tried to pick up individual conversations from the Earth survivors. They all spoke so quickly! How can anyone comprehend when the words are spoken at such speeds? He recognized a few different languages, but could not make sense of the dialogues. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple. He feared he had grossly underestimated his ability. Then a dreadful thought occurred to him…what if they could not understand him, either?

~

Groups of survivors had been leaving The Intium for hours now, slowly filtering down to the planet surface in shuttle ships. Laurent scarcely noticed, though. He was busy performing his final shut-down of the time manipulation device. He was scheduled to disembark The Initium with the last group.

Laurent poured everything he had into his work. In the past, he found that by doing this, he could effectively block out other emotions he might be experiencing. Perhaps that is one reason he had become such an expert in time manipulation in space. He was never what he considered to be a happy man. He did not understand feelings and emotions. To him, they seemed messy and un-necessary. He was a scientist, after all. He relied on provable facts and reproducible results to navigate his way through a sticky life. Emotions were confusing and unpredictable, and he avoided interacting with people at all costs. The human equation was one of the few he could not solve.

Presently, however, Laurent was feeling something he could not identify. When this happened, he usually tried to narrow it down with a muddy version of the scientific method by asking himself a series of questions. The first question was always the same: _Was this emotion pleasant or unpleasant?_

He abruptly stopped his work on the device and scratched his head. For the first time in his life, this question did not work. What he was feeling was both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time.

The only logical conclusion was that he was feeling a combination of two or more emotions at the same time. Interesting. He moved on to the next step.

_Was his unpleasant emotion causing him pain, fear, anger, jealousy, or sorrow?_ Laurent decided the closest answer would have to be fear. Perhaps he was feeling apprehension about his new home. This was understandable. On to the next step.

_Was his pleasant emotion causing him pleasure, satisfaction, joy, or love?_ This one was more difficult. Oddly enough, pleasant emotions were always more difficult for him to pin down than the unpleasant emotions were. None of those answers really fit what he was feeling. He supposed he would have to add a new option to his long-standing list of routine questions, because he believed he was feeling excitement. But it was not purely excitement. There was definitely something else mixed in with it. Emotions were so…messy.

~

Beau received word that the last of the survivors had just landed on the planet and would be arriving at the assembly hall shortly. He walked slowly to the front of the room, building his poise with every step as he went. He left his insecure self behind in the shadows and became the confident man he needed to be for this situation.

“Good morning gentle ladies and gentle mans. My names are Beau, and I welcome all you into Daltangi 3. We are so honor to having all you joining us for making your life new…”

Laurent pushed his way through the crowded room, vaguely listening to the speech. He knew that the language native to Daltangi 3 was like nothing he had ever encountered, and he was impressed that the speaker was doing so well with English, despite some minor errors. English was not Laurent’s native language either, he grew up speaking French, but he became quite proficient with English as it was widely used as a universal language in the scientific community all across Earth.

Before arriving, Laurent had learned that the Daltangians were a bi-pedal humanoid species, but knew little else of what to expect of their appearance. The first thing he noticed was their significant height. Laurent was considered tall by Earth standards, but these people were much taller than he was.

Next, he noticed their hands. Their fingers appeared to have an extra joint making them much longer than human fingers. He glanced down at his own hands, then back to the Daltangians in the room. Their thumbs were located on the opposite side of their hands…where the human pinkie finger is located. Laurent wondered if the same was true of their toes.

“We have plans classes to all you for helping learning language and culture. I ams personally available to any all you if any you having question or concern…”

Laurent finally made his way to the front of the room. He thought that this person’s speech patterns were rather cute…endearing. He was obviously making a great effort to communicate with them, and not doing a bad job of it.

Laurent looked up at the man addressing the crowd, and his breath caught in his chest. The speaker’s words faded away until all that remained was the sound of the intense beating of his heart. It pounded in his chest so hard that it felt as if it rocked his entire body. He swayed on his feet as a wave of dizziness rolled through his head. Long auburn ponytail. Huge turquoise blue eyes. Laurent was staring at the man from his dreams.

“We make housing for all you, and all you will be assigning to your addresses very soon. We wanting to make all you transitions to Daltangi 3 as complofortable as…” Beau’s words faltered when his gaze landed on a man near the front of the room. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity. The man from his dreams had appeared right before his eyes. He was even more handsome in person.

Silence filled the room. It was as if the whole word stopped to whiteness this meeting. Beau suddenly realized how very quiet it had become and was tugged back to reality. He glanced around at the survivors, then at his assistants. He could barely remember where he was, much less what he had been talking about. A burning red blush swept over his face as he tried to regain his composure. It was no good. The momentum of his speech was lost to the un-reality of the situation.

The expectant eyes of the survivors stared up at Beau, waiting for him to continue the speech. “Please let honoring all you and success arrival at Daltangi 3. Welcome all you to us.” Beau was certain that his last two sentences made absolutely no sense at all. He had never been so caught off his guard in all his life.

With a quick, courteous bow, he excused himself to the side of the large room. There, he frantically searched the crowd for the man he had dreamed of. His eyes darted right and left, fearing that he had been an illusion. Then he spotted him again. He was pushing through the crowd, making his way to the exit at the rear of the hall. He was wiping his hands across his cheeks. To Beau, it looked like he was… _crying._


	3. Chapter 3

A strange panic seized Laurent. He completely lost his bearings in the space of 30 seconds. His hands were shaking, and he could not get his breath. He needed air. Fast. He shoved his way through the crowd to the back of the room, not even bothering to stop and apologize to the people he bumped into.

He came to the door through which he entered the assembly hall not long ago, but there was no door there. It was a solid wall. In desperation, he searched the room to his right, then to his left. No door in sight. _What the hell was going on here?_ In frustration, he balled his hands into fists and slammed them into the wall. To his astounding surprise, a portion of the wall vanished. _Fascinating._ He would have to ponder that little detail later. For now, he needed escape.

He rushed through the opening. Warm, bright sunlight momentarily blinded him. Squinting through the glare, he found his refuge…a tall, leafy tree on the far side of the courtyard. It appeared to be a fruit tree. Something that resembled bunches of bright yellow grapes hung heavy on its branches. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what they tasted like, or if they were even edible.

Gripping the tree trunk tightly, Laurent rested his forehead against the smooth bark and cried. All the stress of the long journey, all the questions about the man he dreamed of, all of these damn confusing feelings rushed to the surface in a torrent of tears. He was overcome by emotion and had no idea where to start to sort it all out.

There was no logical explanation for what just happened to him. It was like his feet were kicked out from underneath him. He could not understand how he had been dreaming about a man here on Daltangi 3. More than that, he could not understand why this man seemed to know him. Laurent squeezed his eyes shut and started counting. Numbers were logical. Numbers would return order to his turbulent mind.

_1… 2… 3…_

Long auburn ponytail…

_4… 5… 6…_

Big turquoise blue eyes…

_7… 8… 9…_

Laurent felt like he could almost isolate the one feeling that troubled him the most. Almost. It was both pleasant and unpleasant. It felt raw. It felt primal. It felt exhilarating.

_10…_

“Excuse. Okay you?”

Laurent opened his eyes but tightened his grip on the tree. He recognized the voice.

“Excuse. Okay you? Tell. I no can sense you,” Beau touched Laurent’s shoulder.

Laurent stared at his shoes. What did this man mean? He cannot ‘sense’ me? Maybe something was lost in translation. He let go of the tree and turned to face the redhead.

Long slender fingers wiped away the tears from his face. His fingers were so warm. Laurent did not know why he expected those fingers to be cold, but he did. He was pleasantly surprised. He had to stop himself from turning his face into this stranger’s hand, like a kitten longing for an affectionate touch. He could not stop himself from smiling, however. Laurent could not say that he felt comfortable around this man, but there was a definite familiarity. It was like he had known him for the past two years.

“Now better?” Beau asked with genuine concern.

“Yes, better now. Thank you.”

“What happens? Why crying?”

Laurent did not know how to answer. So, he did the only thing he could think of: avoid the topic and change the subject. “Sorry. Never mind. Is this fruit edible?” he asked, gesturing at the tree. He cringed a little bit because he knew it sounded awkward. As many times as he had directed the topic of discussion away from himself, he would have thought he would be better at it.

“You can speak more slow please?”

Laurent had not even considered this man’s English abilities. He had replied in rapid-fire English fueled by what he suspected to be anxiety, embarrassment, and frustration. “Of course. I am sorry. I was asking about this fruit. Can you eat it?” he said slowly, paying special attention to pronounce each syllable clearly.

“Ooh, you having hunger?”

“Actually, yes, I am hungry.”

“Excellent!” Beau said with a beaming smile. “You will come to my apartment? I have tasty cock.”

Despite his best efforts to remain composed, Laurent burst out laughing. He knew all too well that devastatingly embarrassing mistakes were all part of learning a new language. He had made many himself when he had been learning English. But this one was epically tragic. This one was hilarious. He clutched his belly and doubled over in laughter.

Beau had no idea what he was laughing at. He could only stare at his new friend with a bemused little smile. He had to admit that it was a beautiful experience to see him laughing so.   
Once Laurent’s fit of laughter faded into intermittent bursts of giggles, Beau asked with curiosity dancing in his eyes, “Did I said a thing funny?”

“In this case, I think the better word of choice would be ‘chicken’. A cock is a chicken, but it is rarely used like that. More often it means something else entirely,” Laurent said, trying to figure out how to explain this without causing embarrassment to both of them.

Beau was no stranger to making mistakes in new languages. He spoke many languages, and all of them came with this one steep price to pay…potential for embarrassment. His philosophy was that if you had nothing to lose, you had nothing to gain. He did not care if he humiliated himself as long as he could learn from the mistake. He loved to laugh, and he was not above laughing at himself.

“What is common meaning of word cock?” Beau asked, giggling himself now. Laurent’s laughter was contagious.

Laurent paused and considered a gentle way to say this. He found no other way than to be blunt. “A cock is another word for man’s penis.”

It was Beau’s turn to burst into laughter. He pointed at his crotch and said, “This is penis, yes?”

Laurent found Beau’s lack of inhibition adorable. He gave an affirmative nod and said, “Yes, that is a penis.”

“So, in English, a penis commonly called chicken.”

“A cock,” Laurent corrected.

“Good thing to knowing. I have to make remembering that!”

Laurent realized it had been so long since he had laughed. He could not remember the last time he had behaved like this. He felt happy…giddy. Only moments ago, he had been confused and crying. Perhaps it was the atmosphere on Daltangi 3 causing him to feel this way. Maybe there was some chemical component in the air he was breathing to make him feel like this. For the moment, he decided he did not care. This man had crumbled his ever-present walls to rubble. This man had broken through his formidable defense mechanisms. This man was nothing less than amazing. Such a breakthrough, and he didn’t even know his name yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Walking to Beau’s apartment, Laurent got his first chance to really take in his surroundings. They were in a large city called Malda. It was located on the southern continent of Daltanti 3. Beau felt like a child at a carnival. He wanted to see everything all at once. His scientific mind needed to analyze all of it.

There were many large buildings, but they were very different from Earth buildings. They seemed to contain no 90-degree angles. This was intriguing. He remembered the assembly hall and realized that it, too, contained no 90-degree angles. It had been laid out in an octagon shape.

Laurent wanted to ask about this but realized he did not even know this man’s name yet. “Sorry, this seems rather awkward at this point, but I don’t know your name yet.”

The redhead seemed quite pleased with this. With a huge smile on his face, he said, “My names are Beau!”

Laurent suppressed a giggle. “My name is Beau,” he corrected.

“Ooh! We have same names!”

This time Laurent failed to keep a straight face. He stopped walking and clutched his belly, doubled over in laughter. “No, my name is Laurent. I was correcting your English. You were using the plural, but you are just one man with just one name. The correct way to say it is, my name is Beau.”

Laurent was afraid that Beau would take this correction the wrong way. He did not want to upset or embarrass his new friend. His skills in English were really quite impressive, and he was doing a great job with communication. Part of Laurent didn’t want Beau’s English to improve at all. He was starting to love his little mistakes.

Beau took absolutely no offense to the correction. He rushed in front of Laurent, and with a dramatic gesture, bowed deeply and took Laurent’s hand gently in his. “My name is Beau. It is mine pleasures to make meeting with Laurent. You name is beautiful.”

A violent blush creeped across Laurent’s face. “Your name is more beautiful, Beau. In my native language of French, your name literally means beautiful, handsome, nice looking. It quite suits you.” Laurent’s blush deepened. _How could I have been so bold?_ He all but told this man how handsome he was. He wondered again why he was acting so out of character. He would never have said such a thing back on Earth.

Beau seemed rather speechless at this hidden confession. Laurent wished he was better at reading people. He could not tell what this man was feeling. There was something in his eyes, but he could not identify it.

Desperate to redirect the conversation back into a safer territory, he asked, “Are we almost to your apartment?”

“Yes! Is on other side of these common area,” Beau said pointing to a large park. Everything in the park was a soft shade of blue. The grass, the leaves of the trees, the flowers…all pale blue. Laurent had never seen anything like it. He doubted he could have even imagined such a beautiful place.

As they walked into the park, Laurent was taken aback by the scent that graced the air. The scent smelled blue. The scent felt blue. He was terribly confused as to how he could feel a color coming from a scent, but he could not deny it.

“You sense blue scent?” Beau asked.

“Y-yes, I do. How is that possible?” Laurent was enchanted by everything in the park. His scientific mind immediately tried to work on how all this was possible. His emotional mind, however, overrode his dominant trait. He could not analyze any of this, nor did he want to. All he wanted was to enjoy the sensations.

“Is complicated. I explain you later. But I ams very pleased Laurent can sense the blue,” Beau said.

Laurent stooped down and inspected a tiny, delicate blue flower growing at the base of an enormous crystal jutting up from the ground. He was tempted to pick the flower, but he could not bring himself to do it. Its perfect place was here in this mystical park.

Beau said, “Hungry, yes? We go now eating, yes?”

Laurent was so lost in the magic of the park, so at peace with the sensations of blue, that he scarcely noticed that Beau had taken his hand and was guiding him to the other side. He wished he could remain here forever.

When they walked through the park gate on the other side, a sense of loss washed over Laurent. It felt like one of his senses was taken away from him. He looked over his shoulder at the blue park longingly. Beau noticed and said, “Do not make worries. We can coming back here later.”

Beau lived on the 7th floor of an apartment building across the street from the park. The first level had no walls, only round pillars. Beneath the building was a garden area. Birds sang, and the scent of flowers filled the air. But the scent carried no color with it. “Beau, are there other parks of different colors? I would very much like to experience feeling other colors.”

As they climbed the stairs to the 7th floor, Beau said, “Yes, we haves parks of colors many. I will take you to seeing them during another day.”

Beau stopped walking and faced the wall. It was only then that Laurent realized there were no doors in the hallway. He remembered his hasty exit from the assembly hall and wondered just how this all worked. Beau reached out his hand and touched his long, slender fingers to the wall. Laurent could not help but let a tiny gasp loose when the wall vanished. Beau smiled and said, “This different from Earth I guessing. There is much things for you to learn for Daltangi 3. First, howevery, we now eat.”

~

“I hope you will like my cock,” Beau said with a wink, placing the food on the table.

“Chicken,” Laurent corrected.

“I knows! I make joke!”

The chicken tasted different than Earth chicken, but infinitely more delicious. He suspected that it was not chicken at all, rather something similar. The odds that there are actual chickens as he knew them on Daltangi 3 was near impossible. Laurent chewed each bite slowly, savoring each taste for as long as he could. Beau was a fantastic cook. Each bite was followed by a sip of a purple fruity beverage. The more Laurent drank, the more he wanted.

“Maybe you not drink so much quantity. You not used to these drink,” Beau said at the end of their meal.

“What chu talkin’ bout? This dink is duuuulicious. More pease!” Laurent said, pushing his glass across the table.

Beau knew that Laurent was becoming intoxicated from the strong Daltangian drink, but he knew there was little harm. He filled Laurent’s glass once again.

“Do you make toasts here on Daltangi 3? I wanna make a toastie!” Laurent said, laughing.

“Ooh yes, we make toast now. You going first, then me,” Beau said smiling.

Laurent was thoughtful for a moment, considering what he wanted to toast. “I like you, Beau-sie,” he said, obviously forgetting what he was supposed to be doing.

“You making toast now, Laurent. You making first, then me.”

Laurent giggled. “Yeah, I forgot. Lemme see here. I propose a toast to…BLUE PARKS!!!”

Both men clinked their glasses together and drank.

“You are drunken, Laurent. Are you feel okay?”

“Dunk?? Me?? Nah I’m fine! Your turn. Make a toastie.”

“I make toasts to Laurent’s laughing. Is the beautifulest sound I ever hear,” Beau said with deep sincerity in his eyes.

“Awww you are so precious!” Laurent clinked Beau’s glass a little too hard and spilled some of his drink.

“I thinks you have enough this,” Beau said, taking Laurent’s glass away from him. He could hardly understand a word of his slurred speech.

“Je te trouve…je veux dire…je crois que…” Laurent hesitated. “What language am I even speaking? And what was I dinking? It is strong!” Laurent laughed.

“You were speaking French, but I think I understanding. You said, I find you…I mean to say…I believe that…” Beau removed their dishes from the table. “What did you want to say me, Laurent?”

“I wanted to say I find you very attractive. I like you. A lot. I dreamed about you for two years.”

Beau dropped the dishes when he heard that last sentence. They fell to the floor and broke at his feet. His heart was hammering away in his chest. Did he hear this correctly? He turned back to Laurent to tell him that he, too, had dreamed about him for the past two years, but Laurent’s eyes were closed, and he snored softly.

Beau traced his fingertips across Laurent’s soft lips. The man was sound asleep. “I made dreams of you, too.” he whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

Laurent stretched as he woke. He was certain he had never slept better than he did that night. But what strange dreams he had. He dreamed that he was flirting with a man he barely knew. _Flirting!_ Such nonsense the mind creates in dreams.

He turned on his side and opened his eyes. Lying next to him was the man from his dreams. He blinked once, twice, three times, his sluggish mind trying desperately to make sense of his surroundings. It all came rushing back to him like in a flash. It was no dream. His first instinct was to bolt out of bed and hide, but Beau looked so peaceful sleeping next to him. So beautiful. His long hair was loose of its ponytail and flowed in auburn cascades around his head and shoulders. It reminded Laurent of red sunlight dancing on the soft wisps of clouds at sunrise.

Laurent touched his hair. It was even softer than he imagined. He ran his fingers through it, combing out the tangles. He could not help himself. He brought a bit of Beau’s hair to his face and inhaled deeply. The scent was alluring. Captivating. He closed his eyes and kissed the tips of his auburn hair.

“Good mornings, Laurent.”

Laurent froze, and his heart stopped dead in his chest for a few beats. He had been caught. How could he explain this? He currently had Beau’s hair pressed to his lips.

“I am s-sorry,” Laurent stuttered. “I was just…I mean…”

“Sorry for why?” Beau asked.

“I was…inspecting…your hair. Forgive me.”

“No say sorry! I am happy Laurent like my hairs!”

“Umm, Beau? Why are we in bed together? Did we…?”

Laurent’s adorable confusion and embarrassment made Beau giggle. “No worry, Laurent. You are pure. You got so drunks that you fell sleeping. But I am gentleman. Besides, that would be no kinds of fun if you no can remember, yes?” Beau giggled.

Seconds ago, Laurent felt mortified from embarrassment, but now he was laughing with Beau. This man had a unique way of disarming him. Laurent was always on the defensive, always guarded…except with Beau. He could not remember a single person that had ever put him more at ease. It was as if Beau held the key that unlocked his mechanical heart.

“When I came here yesterday, I had a bag with me…my belongings from The Initium. Do you know where it is?” Laurent asked, wanting to get cleaned up.

“Yes, I put you bag onto my desk over there,” he said pointing to the corner of the room.

Laurent climbed out of bed and yawned as he walked over to Beau’s desk. When he picked up his bag, his eye caught a stack of drawings that was beneath it. His mouth fell open, and he dropped his bag to the floor. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. He was looking at drawings of himself.

Laurent picked up a handful of the sketches and whispered, “What is this? How?”

Beau saw that Laurent had become very pale. He was afraid he was angry. He sat up in bed and said, “Laurent angry against me? I drawed those from dreams I made about you before you arrive. I made dreams about you for two years. Just like you made dreams about me.”

Laurent picked up his bag and came back to the bed, dazed. With shaking hands, he opened it and handed Beau several of his own sketches. Beau’s big eyes got impossibly bigger. “You drawed me so handsome!” the redhead exclaimed.

Laurent was knocked off his center from seeing the sketches of himself, but he could not help but smile at Beau’s reaction to his drawings. Then it hit him…the impossibility of this whole situation.

“How…?”

Beau fixed him in a deep gaze. There was something there hidden in his eyes, but once again, Laurent could not read it. He opened his mouth to speak once more, but before he could form his words, he was overcome by an emotion. It was the strongest emotion he ever felt. What was even more peculiar, and disorienting, was that it was not his own emotion. It was coming from someplace else…someone else. It was coming from Beau.

“What are you doing…?” Laurent gasped, breathless.

Beau beamed and sat up on his knees on the bed. “You can senses me?” He asked, hopeful.

“Yes. How? Why?”

“I will explains. No worry. This makes me very happy. You sensing might be uncorrect until you used to this. You are feel…”

“Fondness,” Laurent interrupted him. “Wait, that is not entirely accurate. Sorry, I have never been good with emotions. It is something like fondness, but stronger. Much stronger.” Laurent struggled through this. His heart already knew what this feeling was, but his mind was resisting. None of this was logical. None of this made sense. “Beau, I think I feel…affection.”

“Yes!” Beau launched himself at Laurent and hugged him tight.

Laurent immediately tensed. He was not used to physical displays of affection. Not even his family was affectionate. He could not remember the last time someone hugged him. Part of him…his logical mind…wanted to push Beau away. But the small part of him that ruled his heart wanted more. That small part won his internal battle, and Laurent relaxed into the hug. He wrapped his arms around Beau; one hand clutching his long hair, the other caressing the small of his back. For a few moments, a few perfect moments, the two men held each other on the bed. Laurent wondered how a simple physical touch could make him feel so…warm. He felt like he had been lost all his life in a cold, dark place, and he finally found his way home.

Beau broke their embrace. “You okay now Laurent? You have tears on face.”

Laurent swiped at his face, and his fingers came away wet. He did not even realize he was crying. “I am fine, Beau. I don’t know why I was crying. But don’t worry. They are not sad tears.” That was as close as Laurent could come to saying he was happy. “What just happened?”

“This is hard to make explaining. Be patient and listen, okay?” Beau took a deep breath and searched for the proper words. “Does you remembers when we made meeting yesterday under tree? I said you I no can sense you.”

Laurent had forgotten about that. He had dismissed the comment as unimportant or something that got lost in translation. He nodded his head and said, “Yes, I remember. I didn’t understand what you meant, though.”

“Daltangians are like human with communications, even though two languages are much different. There are one big difference, though. We are partial telepathic. We no can sense everything from minds…we haves to talk for most thing. But we sense emotion from each other. We not even have words for emotions like do humans,” Beau spoke slowly. He was a bit frustrated because he knew his English abilities were not quite good enough to properly explain this.

Laurent had an utterly blank expression on his face. His mind was trying to sort all this out. His mind was trying to understand. He scratched his head and finally said, “Let me get this straight. I want to be sure I am understanding correctly. Daltangians are emotionally telepathic? I mean, you sense emotions from other Daltangians so efficiently that you don’t even have words to describe feelings?”

“Yes! You understanding!”

“Isn’t empathic the proper word for that?”

Beau considered this. He wished he was better with English, but like learning any new language, it would take time, patience, and lots of practice. “Empathic mean we can sensing and feeling emotions of others?”

“Yes,” Laurent nodded.

“This is proper word. Daltangians are empathic.”

“That must be exhausting, not to mention awkward at times. How do you sort it all out? How do you keep from becoming inundated by all the emotions around you? And…how was it possible for me to sense you? I am not Daltangian,” Laurent asked. His mind was rapidly filling with countless questions, but he needed to go slowly. He did not want to miss anything.

Beau considered the questions carefully. “The empathic is part of us. We always knowed it. Wait, that not right. We always felt it all during our lifes. If Beau honest with Laurent, I thinks it is much easier than words for describe feeling.” Beau paused before continuing. He took Laurent’s hands in his and said, “I no sure how you senses me. But I knowed you can when I saw you reaction in the park.”

More answers led to more questions. “The blue park? What does that have to do with this?”

“You saw big crystal in middle of park, yes?”

Laurent closed his eyes and smiled. He remembered the crystal very well. It was enormous, jutting up out of the ground. It had smooth sides and pointy tips. It seemed to be glowing a soft shade of light blue, but at the time, he dismissed this. He had been feeling things he never felt before. He had not been sure he could trust his own senses to make an accurate evaluation. “Yes, of course I remember. Does the crystal have something to do with this?”

“The crystal are what give magic to the park. I telled you we have parks of many color. We use color parks to wash our minds. We senses every emotion from every Daltangian around us. Sometimes the emotions becoming mixed. Like water and dirt making mud. We go to colors parks to wash so we can sensing correct again.”

Laurent was vaguely understanding everything…up until now. “So, Daltangians sense every emotion from those around them…so much that it becomes overwhelming and hard to separate specific emotions. When this happens, you go to the colored parks. The crystal somehow clears your minds of residual sensed emotions? Is it kind of like washing a dirty window so you can see clearly through it again?”

“Yes! Is much like washing windows!”

“Beau, can you sense my emotions?”

Beau looked a little sad. “No, I no can sense Laurent. No entirely. I sometime get feeling from you but is blurry.”

Laurent was not surprised. Even if Daltangians could sense the emotions from humans, he believed he would be a tough case. He could not even understand his own emotions and avoided them. “What does this have to do with the dreams? How did we dream about each other?”

Beau’s face brightened. “In Daltangi 3, some peoples are close…or will be close. They sensing is stronger. I thinks this happens with us.”

“Even though you can’t sense me? We are supposed to be close? We are destined to be close?”

“You only justs arriving here. I thinking I can be sensing you soon.”

Laurent thought about what he was feeling. He stared at Beau and focused on this emotion as hard as he could.

Beau gasped. He brought Laurent into another embrace and stroked his hair. “Why Laurent feels scared? This all new for you. Go slow. I helps you.”

Laurent did not know what to say. He was confused, overwhelmed, and, yes…scared. He feared emotions. More than that, he feared his own emotions. Some feeling, some wonderful yet terrible feeling had been growing deep in the dark corners of his mind, and he did not want to acknowledge it. He had been forced to undergo sex re-education in order to make this journey. He had been re-programmed so that he would not feel attraction to other men. His duty was to take a female mate to ensure the re-population of the human species. He was not supposed to be feeling like this. He buried this budding feeling once again, afraid that Beau might sense it.

Beau took Laurent’s face in his hands and said gently, “No you worry now, okay? We makes Laurent’s window clean together.”


	6. Chapter 6

Laurent sighed and flopped back onto the bed. He suddenly felt very tired. This was a lot to take in. He knew life on Daltangi 3 would be different than life on Earth, but he had no idea the differences would be this drastic…and so exhausting.

“Do Laurent have hunger?” Beau asked.

Laurent had to admit he was hungry. Two years of eating nothing but processed nutrition supplements resulted in him forgetting the taste of food. And Beau’s cooking was fantastic. “Yeah, I am hungry, but…” He paused. “Hey, Beau. Could I use your shower? I want to get cleaned up, and I need a few minutes alone.”

“Yes! You will find towel and clothwash for you by shower.” Beau said.

~

There were no showers on The Initium. Water was too precious to be wasted on showers. Two years of nothing but sponge baths left Laurent longing for a long, hot soak.

The shower in Beau’s washroom resembled a large glass cylinder, rather like a see-through tube, and, of course, it had no door. Laurent smirked and wondered what the Daltangians had against good, old-fashioned doors. He touched his fingertips to the smooth, curved glass, and a portion of it vanished. It took him a bit longer to figure out the water controls, but he finally managed a continuous stream of hot water flowing from the shower head. He let the water run for a minute as he pulled off his clothes.

Billows of steam enveloped his body when he re-opened the shower. Laurent dunked his head under the warm running water, feeling his tensions and apprehensions wash away down the drain. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he might adjust to life here one day. So much was different, though. This was going to take some time.

A blast of frigid air assaulted Laurent’s body when the shower wall abruptly opened. Startled, he spun around just in time to see Beau, stark naked, stepping into the shower with him.

“EEEEP!!” echoed off the shower walls as Laurent grabbed his ‘clothwash’ in a vain attempt to cover his privates.

“Laurent, I not knowing you can make so high-pitch noise like this,” Beau said, as casually as if they were talking about the weather over a cup of tea.

“BeauWhatAreYouDoing?” Laurent squeaked in an even higher pitch than before. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Beau, what are you doing?”

“I need washing too,” Beau said.

Laurent just stood there, warm water running down his body, mouth agape, clutching his ‘clothwash’ over his groin as he stared at Beau. The redhead flipped his hair back and let the water fall over him. His body was beautiful. Tall and slender with perfect, pale skin. His long, wet hair clinging to his broad back and shoulders. Laurent felt a twitch beneath his ‘clothwash’ and thought to himself, “Ooh gods, not now!”

Turning his back to Beau, Laurent pretended to be inspecting something terribly interesting on the shower wall. If he kept staring at this man, he would no longer need his hands to hold the ‘clothwash’ over his privates. It would hang there in place on its own. “I told you I needed a few minutes alone,” Laurent said, hoping desperately that he sounded unperturbed. _Was this normal for Daltangians to shower together?_ Laurent had no idea.

“I did giving you few minutes alone. You did wanting whole shower alone?” Beau asked.

“No, of course not,” he said too quickly. He did not want to offend Beau if this was, indeed, normal behavior here. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply, willing his hormones back into submission.

Laurent wanted nothing more than to finish his shower and get out of this awkward situation. He glanced over his shoulder at Beau and saw slick, shiny soap bubbles sliding down the subtle curves of his sleek body. A peculiar noise, somewhere between a whine and a moan, rose in his throat. He felt too hot. He felt like is skin was burning. Laurent turned back to inspecting the shower wall. He rested his over-heated forehead against the cool glass with a small sigh of relief, grateful for the distraction. He closed his eyes, once again, and used visualization to quiet his mind and body. In his mind, he saw himself turn to face Beau proudly. In his mind, he had no shame. In his mind, two men showering together was completely normal.

Then his mind rebelled. He saw himself running his fingertips slowly down Beau’s wet, soapy back. He saw himself moving Beau’s long, wet hair to the side and kissing the nape of his neck.  
It was at this moment Laurent decided he was done with his shower.

~

Laurent did not even bother with trivial concerns such as drying his body. He needed to find his clothes. And fast. He grabbed the first things that his fingers touched from his bag and pulled them on with record-breaking speed.

Beau walked into the room, towel casually draped low across his hips. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Laurent and burst out laughing. “What is this you putting for clothes?” he said through his wild laughter.

Laurent, flustered, looked down and saw he was wearing the hideous sweater he had brought with him from Earth. The sweater his grandmother had made for him long ago. To say that this sweater was an assault to the visual cortex would be an understatement. It was poorly knitted with one sleeve being much longer than the other. It was a lima-bean-green and puke-mustard-yellow, sporting a grandma-lipstick-pink zigzag stripe across the chest. He could not part with it when he left Earth, though. He had loved his grandmother, and this was all he had left of her.

“This…this was in fashion on Earth,” he lied. Then, he surprised himself when he burst into laughter, too. What a tragic start to the day this was. He could do nothing else but laugh at himself and this ridiculous situation. Once he got his laughter under control again, he said, “I lied. It was not in fashion on Earth. There never was, nor will there ever be, a place or time that this is in fashion. My grandmother made this for me. I could not leave it behind on Earth. Can I borrow a shirt from you?”

“Of course!” Beau said, gesturing at his closet. “You picks whatevery you wants. It make me very happy you wants wearing my clothes!”

Laurent went to the closet and searched for a shirt of more subtle color and design. He came back with a white tunic and said, “Could I wear this one?”

Beau gave him an enthusiastic nod.

Laurent slipped the shirt over his head, and it slid down his chest…and his hips…and most of his legs. He had forgotten that Beau was so tall. He groaned. It was like he was wearing a “boyfriend shirt”. No, it was worse than that. This tunic was like a dress on him. He blushed furiously and wished he could take a do-over. He wanted to re-start this day over from the beginning.

“Laurent look good in dress,” Beau said with a wink and a smile.

“Could you take me to get some new clothes today?” Laurent asked with a child-like grin, swiping his dripping hair away from his face.

~

After the new-clothes mission was complete, Beau took Laurent to a café for a bite to eat. They sat outside at a small round table under the warm sun. Laurent could not help but think how much this reminded him of the street cafés back home in France. This made him remember the old buildings of the city center in the town where he lived. They were so different from the buildings here, and, yet, this café was so similar. “Hey, Beau, why do none of the buildings here have 90-degree angles?”

Beau looked pleased that Laurent noticed such a detail. “A angle at 90-degrees is not possible to grow.”

“To grow?” Laurent never considered that the buildings might be organic.

“Yes. We growed them,” Beau said with a smile.

“Does that mean the buildings are alive now? Do they continue to grow?”

“Some still growing. Some done with growing. Sometimes we are made surprise with building we thoughts was done with growing and it starts again with growing.”

Laurent sat back in his chair, speechless. He vaguely wondered how any of this even shocked him. Of all the things he had seen since his arrival on Daltangi 3, was there still more that was previously incomprehensible?

A server arrived and handed menus to the two men, but Laurent could not understand any of it. To him, it was nothing but squiggles and dots. This was incredibly frustrating to him. Laurent was used to doing things for himself. He had always been fiercely independent. With a sheepish smile, he asked for Beau’s help.

Laurent’s stomach growled furiously as they waited for their food. The scents coming from the kitchen were intriguing. He was not sure he could place them, but he thought he smelled something like curry. He wondered what Beau had ordered. In the end, though, it did not matter. He was so hungry, he would eat anything.

Their food arrived a few minutes later. It looked like a cross between sandwiches and meat buns. Beau picked one up and dipped it into a dark yellow sauce. “Enjoy,” he said, taking a bite. Laurent copied Beau and took a tentative bite.

A mixture of crunchy vegetables and tender meat was hidden inside, and the sauce tasted like spicy butter. It had to be the most delicious thing Laurent had ever tasted. He dipped his sandwich again, and, attempting to sound casual, he asked, “Hey, Beau, it is normal on Daltangi 3 for people to take showers together?”

Beau smiled and blushed slightly. “No, it not normal,” he confessed. “I just wanted to make shower with you.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey, Beau,” Laurent said, as the two men walked back to Beau’s apartment after shopping and a meal at the café. “Do you know where I will be living? Could you show me?” The sun was already beginning its decent into the horizon, transforming the sky into a sea of soft red and orange. The days on Daltangi 3 were roughly the same as on Earth – about 24 hours long, but the city of Malda was located deep in the far reaches of the southern continent. That in combination with the fact that the planet had a significant rotational axis made daylight hours relatively short at this time of year. Laurent knew it was not time to sleep yet, but the setting sun triggered his internal clock. He felt tired.

“I do knows where you to be living. You wants to go here? Is Laurent angry against me about shower?” Beau seemed a bit disappointed.

“I am not angry about the shower,” Laurent said with a chuckle. “I just want to get settled.”

Laurent had always been what he considered to be a loner. He did not understand people. And his experiences had taught him all too well that people will always hurt you. It may come sooner, or it may come later, but there would always be pain. They were too quick to point out your weaknesses, your faults, and the things you have done wrong. They were swift to tell you how you should look and act, what you should do, and…who you should love.

Maybe it all came down to this final, decisive point. People of Earth tolerated homosexual relationships. They accepted them…to a point, but there remained the element of being an outcast from what was considered ‘normal’ society. It was never acceptable to show any kinds of affection between homosexuals in public, when it was perfectly okay to do so with heterosexual couples. Always, people were watching, whispering, judging. Laurent found it easier to deny himself the luxury of companionship rather than to face prying eyes and indelicate insinuations. He preferred to avoid the possibility of getting hurt completely and remain alone.

His recent surge of feelings for Beau only put more fuel on this old and smoldering fire. He had to admit to himself that he really liked being with Beau. He felt like he had known the man for a very long time and that he could be himself around him. He found Beau by a simple, tragic twist of fate, but he was drawn to him by something far more mysterious and inexplicable. The fact remained, however, that he barely knew the man. He was reluctant to open that door and leave himself vulnerable to emotional pain.

And then there was that one nagging detail festering in the back of his mind, irritating him like sand in his eyes. He was here to re-populate the human species. He was supposed to have a female mate. Many of the people from The Initium had paired off into couples, and three babies were already born aboard The Initium during their voyage. A few females had even made it clear to him that they would like to take him as a mate. Laurent spent the entire voyage avoiding these women. He didn’t think he could do it…take a female mate. He felt no attraction to them at all.

~

At Beau’s apartment, Laurent picked up his bag and said, “Is it far? My new home?”

“No is not. Where is rest of you belongings?” Beau said a bit sullenly. He could not help but feel a loss now that Laurent wanted to leave.

“The rest of my belongings? This is all I have.” Laurent said, hoisting the bag onto his shoulder.

Beau gasped. “This all Laurent have? For really?”

“Yes. We could not bring much with us. So, I chose the things most important to me,” Laurent said. A pang of regret stabbed his heart. All the things he had to leave behind...all the things he would never see again…all the things that were now nothing but pulverized debris drifting through the galaxy.

“Can Beau see?” the redhead said sheepishly. He truly did want to see the things that were so important to Laurent. He wanted to know the man better. But he had to admit it seemed like he was stalling for time…time together with Laurent. Maybe he was.

“You saw my sweater already,” Laurent said, blushing, remembering the unfortunate series of events that started out the day. “There is not much here, but you can have a look if you want,” he said, tossing the bag to him.

Beau caught it easily. His heart ached for Laurent as he felt the insignificant weight of the bag. When he opened it and saw only a handful of items, his aching heart sank like a stone in his chest. A handful of memories that Laurent had trekked across space. A handful of things that were important to him. He reached inside and pulled out a tiny, clear bag of what looked like miniscule, flat black pebbles. “What are this?” he asked. For some reason, he felt like he was on the verge of tears.

Laurent took the tiny bag from him and flashed a genuine smile. That smile was filled with happy memories and sad goodbyes all at the same time. “These are watermelon seeds. Watermelon was my favorite food back on Earth. I had no idea if watermelon existed here on Daltangi 3. I wanted to bring these with me so I could plant some watermelons.”

At that moment, the full impact of Laurent’s situation hit Beau like a mighty slap across his face. Everything that Laurent loved was gone. When he had been making preparations for the arrival of the humans, Beau tried many times to consider what it must be like to be in their situation. He never was able to fully grasp the severity of their circumstances. Until now.   
The tears finally fell from Beau’s face. He wanted more than anything to make Laurent’s life whole again. He wanted to hear Laurent’s laughter and see his smile every day. But how could he even begin to do this? He did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Laurent into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Again, Laurent immediately tensed. He had no idea why Beau was crying, and he could feel a devastating sadness coming from the man. It was bleeding into Laurent’s soul. He wondered again if he would ever get used to this empathy. He relaxed and hugged him back. The moment his hands found Beau’s back, that sadness he felt from Beau changed into something he could not immediately identify. “Why are you crying, Beau?”

“I cries for you.”

Laurent surprised himself when he squeezed Beau even tighter and stroked his long ponytail. He whispered soothing words into the man’s ear in an attempt to calm him. But he had never done anything like this before. He didn’t know how to comfort someone. He went on instinct, relying on vague memories from his childhood when his grandmother had comforted him.  
Beau sniffled and pulled back from the hug. He kissed Laurent on the forehead, causing Laurent to blush furiously.

“Come on, Beau. Let’s go. Show me to my new home.”

Beau went to a shelf near the window and grabbed a large lavender bag. The bag was well worn, wrinkled and creased, from many years of use. He tucked it under his arm and walked to the door. Laurent followed him out of the apartment and to the right. He was exhausted. He wondered how far they would have to walk to get to his new home.

Approximately 15 steps down the hall, Beau stopped and faced the wall.

“Did you forget something?” Laurent asked, confused.

Beau smiled through his remaining tears. “No. This are apartment for you,” he said, nodding his head toward the wall.

Laurent smiled and let out a hearty laugh. “This is my apartment? Right next door to you? Did you plan this? Did you ask for me to live next door to you?”

Laurent’s laughter died in his throat when Beau said, “No. I was having no ideas for this. I did not even knowing who you were. This is accidentally. Or this maybely is fate.”

Laurent was very happy to be living next door to Beau. Relieved, as well. He wanted to keep Beau close, even though he needed some space. But what really killed his laughter was the extraordinary work of some greater power. Something, some unidentifiable thing, brought these two men together. The same unidentifiable thing was keeping them together. It both exhilarated Laurent and frightened him. He pushed that thought aside for now.

Laurent put his hands on the wall, and the opening appeared. It was a beautiful apartment. A large window dominated the back wall with a breathtaking view of the night sky. Unfamiliar stars twinkled from somewhere up above. There were furniture and appliances already in place. It looked like everything he needed was already here. He walked into the kitchen and looked in a few cabinets. Food, dishes, everything was here for him.

Beau had been fighting to hold back his tears since their embrace. He wanted to stay strong. But when Laurent tossed his bag onto the bed, the emotions came rushing back like the wild wind of a violent storm. Laurent had very little to put away in his new home. He had virtually nothing. Beau’s chest felt tight from grief.

He wiped his eyes and gave Laurent the lavender bag he had been carrying. “Welcome home, Laurent.”

This caught Laurent off his guard. He wondered when the last time he received a gift was. He honestly could not remember. Speechless, he opened the bag and pulled out a light purple blanket. It was as soft as rose petals and the color of lilacs. Instinctively, he brought the blanket to his face and inhaled deeply. It smelled like Beau. It was soft and tender against his cheek, like Beau’s caress. He felt completely relaxed…at ease.

“This is emotion blanket,” Beau said, a few small tears still falling from his eyes.

“Emotion blanket?”

“Some childrens on Daltangi 3 haves problems learning emotions. Empath is no easy to learn. To helping them, we have emotions blankets,” Beau tried to explain, but knew it would not make sense.

“Let me understand. Some children here have trouble interpreting emotions even though they are born empathic?”

“No exactly. They interpret emotions fine. Buts, to do this, they is blocking own emotions. This blankets helping them. There is joy blanket, sorrow blanket, many blanket for differents emotion. Does you understanding?” Beau felt his English abilities slipping away from him. He must be tired. He could not find his words.

“Ooh, I think I understand. When a child needs to cry, they use the sorrow blanket. Does it work like that?” Laurent felt excited. He did not have any idea how this worked, but he understood the concept.

“Yes,” Beau sniffed and wiped his tears again.

“Why do you have a child’s blanket, then? Do you have trouble with emotions?” Laurent asked, hoping he was not prying too far into a sensitive subject.

“No I no having trouble with emotions. Sometimes I just needing help from blanket.”

There was something that was disarming about this innocent confession. Laurent had never even considered that Beau had a vulnerable side. He was always so composed. Always so in control. “Which emotion is this blanket?”

“This comfort blanket,” Beau said as the tears fell freely again.

“Beau, thank you. Thank you very much. But it looks like you need this more than I do right now. Come sit with me, and we will use the blanket together.”


	8. Chapter 8

The two men huddled together on the sofa under the rose petal soft, lilac purple comfort blanket, each seeking shelter from his own respective demons. Neither spoke. Neither had to. They were both lost in their own thoughts, yet connected through a still somewhat undeveloped sense of empathy.

Beau rested his head on Laurent’s shoulder and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He was asleep in minutes. Laurent sat awake, memories of Earth teasing his mind. The memories were both tantalizing and frustrating at the same time. It was getting harder to remember things. The faces of people he knew. The scent of springtime. The path through the old part of the city that he walked every day to and from work. It was all fading. He never really liked his life, as such, and had looked forward to a fresh start on a new world. He never dreamed he would miss these things so much.

Beau stirred in his sleep and made a soft whimper, shifting his weight to lay his head on Laurent’s lap. Laurent gazed down at him, stroking a few stray hairs away from his face. He wanted to lean over and kiss him. The need to do so was almost overwhelming. Then that festering thought came back to him. He could not let his feelings for Beau go any further. Instead of a kiss, he closed his eyes and fell asleep trying to remember more of Earth, but failing. Beau was the only thought in his head as he drifted into that magical land of sleep.

Laurent did not find magic in his dreams, however. He found horror and humiliation.

_Laurent came through the door of his new apartment, utterly exhausted from a grueling day. He wanted nothing more than a long, hot shower and sleep. A woman from The Initium, Zoë, walked out of the washroom and said, “You are home late. You are always late.” The distain in her voice was palpable._

_“Nice to see you, too,” Laurent said sarcastically. This woman was difficult to get along with on her best days._

_Zoë put one arm around Laurent’s neck and, with the other hand, began rubbing his genitals through his pants. “We are the only couple from Earth that has not yet produced a baby. I want to try again. Now.”_

_“Not now. I’m tired. Leave me alone for a bit, yeah? I just walked in the door.”_

_“You never want to. There must be something wrong with you. What kind of man are you? You can’t even get it up for a beautiful woman,” she said, almost spitting the words at him. “You spend all your time with Beau. You like him, don’t you. You must be gay.”_

_Laurent winced, and a white-hot flame of anger ignited in his chest._

_“You are useless. A pathetic excuse of a man.”_

_Usually Laurent did not argue with her. There was no point. She never listened to the words he said. She only heard what she wanted to hear. But this time, something in him snapped. He felt his heartbeat quicken, pounding in his temples. His hands shook. His vision pulsed. Then his usually calm and passive demeanor crumbled, giving way to a darker side of his personality. “What do you know about it! You know nothing! My manhood has absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation,” he said through gritted teeth. He was rapidly losing control._

_“Ooh, am I not being sensitive enough to your feelings? You gay boys have such fragile emotions.”_

_Laurent saw nothing but red. His lips curled back from his teeth in a fierce snarl. He raised his hand to strike her, but stopped his blow from landing at the last possible second. She deserved to be hit. Gods help him, he wanted to beat her unconscious. She stood defiant and laughed at him, mocking him, as if daring him to hit her. He flexed his fist a few times, then turned to walk away._

_“Typical. Not even man enough to hit me,” she said._

_Laurent paused momentarily. “I am more man than you could ever possibly handle…and far more than you deserve,” he said quietly as he left the apartment. Out in the hallway, he put his fist through the wall._

Laurent woke with a shuddering gasp. Beau was hovering over him with worry on his face. He stared into Beau’s eyes for a few moments, disoriented, trying to figure out what just happened. Then he looked down at his hand expecting to find a bloody and bruised mess.

No blood. No bruises. He sat up and rubbed his hands across his face.

“Laurent what happening? Okay you? Tells me. I have fear!” Beau said, near panic.

Laurent stood up a little too quickly, and the floor seemed to shift and tilt beneath his feet. He closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths. “I’m fine, Beau. Just a nightmare.” The bad dream left Laurent feeling dirty, disgusted, and more than a little irritable. His head was pounding, and he felt like he needed to vomit. He looked out the large landscape window and saw the sun already climbing over the distant trees. He must have slept for hours, but he felt like he had been awake for weeks. “Beau, I need to be alone for a while. Do you mind?”

Beau looked both dejected and worried at the same time. “You make promise that you okay?”

“I promise. I am fine. I just need to clear my head.”

“Okay Beau goes home now. You can coming to my apartment when you feeling better, yes?” Beau said, carefully folding the comfort blanket and placing it on the shelf.

“Yes, of course,” Laurent said over his shoulder, already making his way to the shower. “See you later,” he mumbled, disappearing into the washroom.

He turned on the water in the shower after he heard Beau leave. He felt like he was still dreaming. Everything seemed foggy and distorted. He remembered Zoë from his dream, and his anger mounted again. But that anger quickly morphed into defeated frustration when Beau entered his thoughts once again. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

Stepping into the shower, Laurent remembered the morning of the previous day. The morning he showered with Beau. His mind was a whirlpool of blurred emotions. The whirlpool was sucking him down into blackness. He leaned his back against the wall of the shower and slowly slid to the floor, the falling water mixing neatly with the tears on his face.

~

Beau returned to his apartment, restless…anxious. He needed to find something to occupy his mind. He went to his desk to find one if his English Language texts, thinking that now would be a good time for further study. He had been able to speak it and listen to it, and he was able to identify the areas that still needed some work.

Picking up his work tablet, however, his gaze landed, once again, on his sketches of Laurent. He reached out to pick one up and found his hands trembling. He had no idea why, but he felt scared. He was rarely scared of anything. More than that, he did not even know what exactly he feared. He just felt…afraid.

He pushed the unpleasant thoughts aside, grabbed his work tablet, and headed for the sofa. His concentration was lacking, but he continued to study despite his wandering mind.

Minutes passed into hours. He resisted the urge to go next door to check on Laurent. Beau had always been very social, and it was hard for him to understand the need to be alone. But he wanted to respect Laurent’s wishes. Earth culture was very different than that of Daltangi 3, after all. Maybe this was normal.

Beau looked out the window and saw the sun had set. He had waited all day for Laurent to come visit. He never came. Was he being too possessive? Did Laurent really not want to see him? His worry got the best of him. He decided to go to Laurent’s apartment.

~

Beau knocked on the wall once, twice. At his third knock, the wall opened up, and there stood Laurent looking somewhat rough. He wore only boxers, his hair was a mess, and there was a distant, vacant look in his eyes. It was as if his body was present, but his mind was gone.

“Laurent? Okay you?” Beau said softly, sensing Laurent’s fragile state.

Laurent said nothing, his unseeing eyes staring at the floor.

Beau was truly frightened now. He took a tentative step inside and put a hand on Laurent’s shoulder. “Laurent?”

At his touch, Laurent looked up at Beau’s kind face, and consciousness flooded back into his eyes.

“Laurent okay?” Beau asked again, lifting Laurent’s chin with his long, slender fingers.

Fat, glimmering tears drops fell from Laurent’s eyes. He struggled to speak, but could not. Beau pulled him into a fierce hug and held him tight. Laurent did not tense this time. He immediately wrapped his arms around Beau and clung to him for dear life. The two men stood there for some time in the doorway, Laurent crying freely on Beau’s shoulder, Beau on the verge of tears, himself.

Beau guided him to the sofa, and they sat side by side. After Laurent had calmed a bit, Beau asked, “What happens? I have worry for you. Please tell.”

“I can’t.”

“Laurent can tells me anything.”

Laurent looked like he was about to break, shatter into a million pieces. Beau could feel the emotions rolling off him like great waves. Despair. Anxiety. Anger.

Finally, Laurent spoke. “IwantToBeWithYouButICannotIAmSupposedToBeWithAFemaleButICannotDoThatAllIWantIsYouIDon’tKnowWhatToDo.” The words rushed from his mouth between harsh sobs.

Beau had no chance of understanding. He wiped Laurent’s tears and lifted his face. Beau kissed his forehead gently, then his lips. They remained like that for several seconds, lips barely touching.

For Laurent, the violent whirlpool abruptly stopped. He was suddenly able to breath again.

Beau finally said, “Laurent can please make speaking more slowly? I no can understand.”

Laurent took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. “I said that I want to be with you. But I cannot. I am supposed to be with a female, but I don’t think I can do that,” he spoke the words quietly. Almost a whisper. “I like you, Beau. I don’t even know how that is possible. We only just met. I have never felt like this before. And I have no idea what to do.”

“Why you haves to be with female?” Beau asked, genuinely confused.

“We have a duty to re-populate the human species. I am obligated to mate with a female. But I don’t think I can.” The sorrow in his voice was tangible.

“But you no want to be with female,” Beau said carefully. He could feel that Laurent was in a fragile place, like walking on thin ice.

At that moment, everything bubbled up and spilled from Laurent’s heart. “I don’t like females. I am gay. They tried to change me. They tried to make me like females. They would not send anyone on the voyage unless they were heterosexual and fertile. They said I was ‘good breeding stock’ because I was smart and good looking. I should have been flattered, but I was insulted…disgusted. ‘Good breeding stock’! Am I only a means to an end? No! I am more than that. I am a person, not just sperm in a sterile cup. They humiliated me. They made me think that I was a bad person. I AM NOT BAD! THAT IS JUST THE WAY I AM!”

Beau felt a shift in Laurent’s emotions. Their empathic link was becoming stronger. Laurent was still feeling despair and anger, but he was also feeling relief and a sense of freedom. That part was hard for Beau to understand fully. It was like Laurent had been searching for this freedom all his life but never found it. Until now.

Beau said nothing for the moment. He held off because he doubted he had any words that would make him feel better. He was angry, also. Furious, in fact. He needed to be sure he could keep his anger in control before speaking. He didn’t want to make this situation any worse. He pulled Laurent close and held him. As Laurent rested his head on Beau’s chest, he could feel his emotions shift again to happiness.

Finally, Beau spoke. He went slowly and chose his words with care. “Laurent, who is they for telling you who you are and who you cans love? They having no right for changing you. Laurent is already perfect. You follow you heart. You be hero.”

Laurent, utterly speechless, lifted his head and stared straight into Beau’s big, turquoise blue eyes.

“Laurent made filling a place in mines heart that I did not knowing was even empty,” Beau continued. “I wants you for staying with me.”

Tears fell, once again, from Laurent’s eyes, but they were not sad tears. Beau felt only happiness coming from him now. He smiled at Laurent and stroked his cheek. Despite everything, Laurent let out a small laugh and smiled back.

“Beau has question, howevery. Tells me, how do they knowing you are fertile?”

The intensity of the moment passed, and Laurent burst into laughter. He made a loose fist and pumped it in the air over his crotch.

Beau blushed and laughed out of control. “So, they maked you masturbating for testing fertility?”

Laurent grinned. “Something like that.”


	9. Chapter 9

With the mood lightened, the two men talked deep into the night. The slumbering world of darkness pressed in on the large window, but they paid no attention. Both were lost in conversation, learning more about each other with every word, both spoken and unspoken.

After hours of talking about everything and nothing, Laurent’s face got serious. He took Beau’s hand in his, looked straight into his big, turquoise-blue eyes, and told him about his dream.

Beau listened carefully without interrupting. The dream angered him. It infuriated him. This was yet another insight into Laurent’s tragic past. He wondered how one person could endure so much sadness and pain. “Is Zoë a for really person?”

Laurent sighed and looked at his hands. “Yes, she is real. She is one of the Earth survivors. She told me once that she wanted to take me for a mate, but I could not. I have avoided her ever since then.”

“Does she for really acting this mean?” Beau asked slowly, feeling his anger building.

“She is…difficult, yes. What upset me the most about the dream, though, was the fact that I wanted to hit her. I wanted to injure her. I wanted to cause her pain,” he paused trying to center himself again. “I do not like violence, but it was beyond my control. I could not control the darkness within me,” Laurent admitted.

“Laurent, this was only making of dream. Dreams make you doing things that you no do for really. Dreams is way of you mind letting go of stresses. If you no have darkness, you no have light,” Beau said, again feeling frustrated for his inability to fully express himself in this difficult language.

Laurent was not sure he understood this last part. “Are you trying to say that without darkness, you cannot recognize the light?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. But what did my dream mean?”

“Beau think it showing you what maybely happening if you does not following you heart.”

“For all the advances we ever made on Earth, all the advances in science, technology, and medicine, we were still never able to explain dreams…” Laurent said, lost somewhere in the past, in his memories. His eyes re-focused, and he continued. “I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. This is not going to be easy. I am breaking the rules. I might even be punished for this.”

“I do not take a shit,” Beau said defiantly, proud to be showing off some of the slang language he had learned.

Laurent was trying to be serious, but he broke into laughter despite his best efforts to keep a straight face. “I think you mean to say, ‘I do not give a shit’. If you say, ‘I do not take a shit’, it means that you do not poop.”

Beau considered this for a minute, then let go of a chuckle that was somewhere between irony and defeat. It made no sense to him, but English slang always seemed to be very contradictory. “Okays then, I no gives a shit,” he said with a dangerous smile. Then, he got very serious, his language frustrations forgotten. “Laurent, I will protecting you.”

“Protect me? How?”

“Never minds for now. Laurent will come with Beau? I haves something for showing you.”

~

Beau and Laurent arrived at a shuttle ship station late in the afternoon. As the two men approached the entrance, four uniformed guards stationed outside the building bowed deeply. Beau nodded his head and walked confidently past, his long auburn ponytail swishing left and right across his broad back.

Laurent gaped at the guards, then at Beau, not even bothering to try to hide his confusion.

More guards bowed as they entered the shuttle ship. Laurent’s mind was trying to work it out. He felt like he had missed something. Something huge. It was lurking just out reach of his consciousness. It was like some elusive detail mocked him from the shadows.

“Laurent did you hearing me?” Beau asked.

“Sorry, what?”

“I made asking if you is okay. You looking pale.”

“Yes,” Laurent said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I am fine. Where are we going?” he asked as they sat next to each other in the shuttle ship. The passenger seats were ivory colored and made of some substance similar to leather…but infinitely softer. He felt the engines come to life and realized that they were the only passengers.

“Is surprises. You will seeing,” Beau said proudly.

“Say, Beau. Why did those guards bow to you?” As soon as he said the words, everything clicked into place. All the trivial details his conscious mind did not see were now clearly visible. Beau only wore white clothes. Beau was the only Daltangian he had seen, male or female, with long hair. The guards bowed to him. “Beau, are you…?” The question hung heavy in the air.

Beau smiled softly, blushing slightly. “Beau is son of emperor of Daltangi 3. Beau is…”

“A prince,” Laurent finished his sentence for him in a soft whisper. He rose to his feet, then dropped to one knee, bowing his head.

Beau was shocked. He lifted Laurent’s chin with his long fingers and said, “Laurent no ever bow to me. Please.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“No makes any differences,” Beau said.

Everything made sense now. A familiar relief buzzed in Laurent. He had experienced that same sense of relief many times when solving difficult scientific problems. But, still, he had many questions. “You said you will protect me. Are you able to do this because you are a prince?”

“Yes!” Beau said with a huge smile on his face.

“But, how? Do you have authority to protect me?”

“A littles bit. But Beau’s fathers has more authorities.”

“Your father will not disapprove?”

“Beau have two fathers. And they no disapproving. They same as me. And you.”

Laurent had so many emotions rushing around inside him that he could not even begin to identify them. None of them caused him any unpleasant feelings, however. Still, it was overwhelming. He felt tears threaten at the corners of his eyes, though he had no idea why he felt like crying.

Beau sensed it all immediately. He felt every emotion coming from Laurent as clearly as if he had been born Daltangian. It was as if the great and mighty wall that had been separating the two men had finally fallen to rubble. He put his hand on Laurent’s shoulder. “Happiness. Relief. Hope. Comfort. Calmness. Liberation. Validation.” he said confidently.

“Yes, exactly,” Laurent whispered. “More than that I feel…clean. I have always felt like I was dirty or stained, and, no matter what I did, I could not feel clean.”

“Laurent have no worries no more. You found home.”


	10. Chapter 10

The men disembarked the shuttle ship, holding hands. Beau’s long fingers wrapping tightly around Laurent’s smaller hand.

“Where are we?”

“Welcomes to second moon of Daltangi 3. This moon called Shiiah-Kii. This place special.”

Laurent’s mind immediately set to analyzing his surroundings. The sky was not blue. It glowed a soft shade of orange. He thought it must have something to do with the magnetic field of this moon. Or maybe it was the sun ionizing different particles in the atmosphere.

Thick vegetation could be found in all directions, mostly enormous trees that resembled weeping willows. Long, sweeping branches adorned with tiny light-green leaves hung heavy, almost reaching the ground, swaying gently in the breeze. The trees seemed to have a peaceful consciousness.

Beau stooped down before a patch of delicate, yellow flowers atop long, green stems. He held out his hand to the flowers, and much to Laurent’s amazement, the flowers turned to investigate Beau’s long, splayed fingers.

Laurent held his breath, fascinated, waiting to see what would happen next. Beau grinned at him from below.

The flowers bent on their long stems and brushed against Beau’s hand. He made the palm of his hand very flat and softly moved it along the tops of the flowers as if petting them.  
“Laurent come close and listening?” Beau asked.

Gently dropping to his knees beside Beau, eyes wide in disbelief, Laurent inspected the flowers more closely. He heard something coming from the flowers. It sounded like…a cat purring. “May I try?” he asked Beau.

“Yes! But first you putting hand close for greeting them. If flowers accepting you, then you touch. Okay?”

Immediately, Laurent wondered if the flowers would accept a human. Then he wondered what, exactly, would happen if he tried to pet the flowers if they did not accept him first. Would they injure him? Would they poison him?

Taking a deep breath, he stretched out his hand slowly toward the flowers. Two of them approached his fingers, then immediately backed away. He was about to give up, but then Beau covered Laurent’s hand with his own, lacing their fingers together. The flowers approached again, paused for a moment, then brushed against their hands. Beau let go and let the flowers caress Laurent’s hand. It felt so soft and delicate…like butterfly wings.

Beau looked at the setting sun, then at Laurent. “Come? We have need for going now.”

Reluctantly, Laurent rose to his feet. Apparently, the purring flowers were not the only spectacular sights to see here on this magical moon.

“Beau, is this moon inhabited? I do not see any houses. No buildings at all except for the shuttle station.”

“Shiiah-Kii is yes inhabited. But no like you think. I will make showing you,” Beau said, knowing that Laurent would not understand until he saw it. He took Laurent’s hand and led him into the wilderness.

The sun had almost set. Twilight morphed the glowing orange sky into light purple. Laurent could hear a waterfall somewhere nearby. He had so many questions but had no idea where to start. “Beau, it looks like it will be dark soon. Do you have a lamp?”

“We no need lamp. You will sees.”

The sun dipped below the horizon, and, within minutes, the moon was immersed into pitch-black darkness. Laurent felt his breath quicken. He liked to be in control of his surroundings, but he could not see his hand in front of his face. Then it happened. The trees, the ones that resembled weeping willows, lit up. A warm light came from beneath their bark and the tiny leaves glowed. A few moments passed, and their eyes adjusted to the new level of light.

“Fascinating,” Laurent mumbled as he let go of Beau’s hand and touched a tree trunk. He expected it to feel like metal or plastic, like an artificial tree. But it was real. A real tree that glowed.

Beau was grinning. “Comes on, Laurent. Comes with me. We no want to miss it!”

They followed the sound of the waterfall and soon found themselves in a clearing. They stood at the banks of a broad pool, the waterfall roaring above them misting their faces.  
Laurent looked around, wondering what it was they came here to see. “What am I looking for?”

Beau shushed him and whispered, “Waits. You seeing soon.” He nodded his head toward the pool of water.

Laurent took in all the details and found nothing nearly as remarkable as the purring flowers or the glowing trees. Then he saw it. The water began to pulse with a bright green radiance. It started from underneath the waterfall and slowly flowed into the rest of the pool. His mind was busy working out possible explanations for this phenomenon, but no solutions came to mind.  
Soon, the green glow localized into various points within the water and intensified. A few times he thought he saw sparks. Sparks under water! He concluded that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Beau took his hand and squeezed it tightly. The localized areas of green glow focused into points of light beneath the water. Laurent whispered, “Beau, what is happening?”

Beau said nothing.

With the resounding sound of a thunderclap, the points of light shot up out of the water forming long green ropes of what looked like pulsating electricity. They swayed above the surface like a cobra before a snake charmer.

Laurent was hypnotized. He stood staring, mouth agape, not even daring to breathe.

The ropes of energy undulated in unison, as if of one mind. His thoughts focused on this last little bit.

_As._  
If.   
Of.   
One.   
Mind. 

He could hold his tongue no longer. “Are these…alive?”

“Yes,” Beau whispered.

“What are they?”

“They the Jadii,” Beau said with green light reflecting off his big, turquoise blue eyes.

“They are a life form?” Laurent asked, incredulous.

“Yes. They native to Shiiah-Kii. Watching close now. It about to begin.”

Laurent shifted his gaze back to the pool of water. The Jadii had now paired off. All across the pool, pairs of two Jadii twisted and swayed together. It looked like an intricate ritual dance. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Looping around each other, they twirled into spirals, twisted together and dove into the water only to resurface and begin again.

Laurent could not contain his curiosity. “What are they doing?”

“They mating.”

Laurent was utterly speechless. He held Beau’s hand tightly, and the two men watched the mating dance of the Jadii in silence. When it was finally over, the glowing green ropes of energy slipped smoothly back under the surface of the water and disappeared under the waterfall.

Laurent’s mind was reeling. He wondered how a life form could be composed of what appeared to be nothing more than energy? “Are the Jadii sentient?”

Beau looked at him puzzled. He did not know this word. “What does mean sentient?”

“A sentient being is a life form that is able to feel or perceive things.”

Beau led him to a rock formation where they sat down. “They is sentient. I cans feel they emotions. I thinking you could feeling them, too,” he said smiling.

Laurent could feel something from them. At the time, he was not sure if it was his emotions, Beau’s emotions, or those of the Jadii. Now that he thought about it, though, what he felt was far different from anything he had ever experienced from his own mind or from Beau’s. It was like a feeling that prickled his soul, rather like walking barefoot on a path made of pebbles. But it was not painful. Just prickly. He had never felt an emotion that had texture before. “Are the Jadii an intelligent life form? Can they communicate?”

Beau shrugged and opened his mouth to speak. He paused, however, wanting to be sure to get his words correct. “We no can communicate with Jadii. Maybely they intelligent. Maybely no. How can we say for really? You is human. You considering you self intelligent, yes? If you sees tiny insect you ignore because you thinking this insect no compare to you intelligences. But maybely you and me are tiny insect from view of the Jadii. Maybely they no bother with us because they thinking we no intelligents.”

“But we can clearly communicate.” Laurent felt like his mind was on the verge of understanding something big.

“Tiny insects can also make communication with each others. But they no speak like you and me. They have their own ways of making communications,” Beau said hoping he was making sense.

Laurent’s face lit up. He had never considered this before. How could he have been so arrogant? How could humans have been so arrogant? How could humans have thought they had such superior intelligence that they could set the standard of what intelligent life should be? Surely there existed in this galaxy…in the universe…a life form so vastly intelligent that humans appeared to be nothing but tiny insects to them. “Beau, I could feel something from them. But I cannot identify it. It felt more like a physical sensation than an emotion. What were they feeling?” Laurent asked, truly fascinated now.

“You was feeling love. They was telling ‘I love you’ to their mates.”

“I never thought I would experience anything so beautiful in my lifetime. Beau, thank you for bringing me here.”

“Laurent, how do say ‘I love you’ in you language?” Beau asked.

“In French? We say ‘Je t’aime’.”

Beau took Laurent’s hand and said, “Laurent, jaa tum.”

“Close enough,” Laurent smiled. This made him ecstatic. He couldn’t remember ever hearing those words from anyone before. “Beau, how do you say ‘I love you’ in Daltangian?” he asked, now shy, with his heart hammering in his chest.

“Like this,” Beau said softly.

Laurent was preparing to make a difficult pronunciation in a language he was not able to speak. But before he knew it, Beau’s hands were on his face, and his lips made full contact, moving gently over his. Laurent’s hammering heart stopped dead in his chest for a few beats.

Beau’s hands were on his cheeks pulling him closer, deeper into the kiss. Laurent gave a soft moan as his eyes fluttered closed. Behind his eyelids, he could see magnificent colors dancing to the rhythm of the wilderness around them. He wrapped his fingers around Beau’s wrists and slowly, very slowly, glided them up until his hands were covering Beau’s on his face.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Laurent realized that, yes, this all made sense. Daltangians have no need to speak such things. Daltangians can sense emotions like love. There would be no words for ‘I love you’.

Beau finally broke the kiss. “Do you understanding now?”

Laurent brushed his fingertips across his lips. “Yes,” he whispered.

Beau smiled. “I was never thinking I can fall in love with human. We so different. How can we be so same also?”

Laurent turned, resting his back against Beau’s broad chest, and said, “Maybe our destinies were sealed eons ago. The universe brought us together through destruction and creation. When a star explodes in a supernova, it creates new elements. Heavier elements. Every atom in everything around us came from a star’s death. Every element in your body and in mine was created in a supernova explosion. Maybe the atoms that make up both you and me were created in the same supernova explosion billions of years ago. We are different, but we are also the same. We are the stuff of stars.”


End file.
